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Volume 22, Issue 246, Jim Carnegie, Editor & Publisher
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Monday Morning December 19th, 2005
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Radio News®
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 Seven finalists for
radio ratings competition
With only four passive monitoring devices in testing or beyond, the surprise is that Clear Channel got 34 submissions in response to its RFP for a new radio ratings system. Now seven finalists will be put through their paces by a panel including Ford Motor Co., four media buying companies and 11 radio companies. The next date to mark down on your calendar is March 3, 2006. That's the date when Clear Channel and its associates plan to announce a winner, with a "live test period" to begin in the spring. Along with Clear Channel and Ford, the evaluation team will include representatives from media buyers Mediaedge:CIA (Kim Vasey confirms that she is the rep), Initiative, Mediacom and MPG, plus representatives from these radio companies: ABC, Bonneville, CBS Radio, Clear Channel Radio, Cox Radio, Emmis, Entercom, Greater Media, Journal, Regent and Susquehanna. Clear Channel called that the "initial" evaluation team, indicating that others might be added. "With this many prominent members of the industry on board, we are moving quickly," said Jess Hanson, Sr. VP of Research for CC Radio. "As an industry, we are one step closer to more accurately and credibly measuring radio's true performance and value to advertisers," declared CC Radio CEO John Hogan.
RBR observation: Clear Channel and its evaluation team have an aggressive timetable. The winner is supposed to be ready to begin deployment for real world radio ratings before the end of 2006. Arbitron has been happily pointing out, repeatedly to anyone who will listen, that PPM is ready to go now - - in fact, it's already being used outside the US - - while everyone else is playing catch-up. But that doesn't make it a slam-dunk for PPM. If someone else really does have a better mousetrap, the radio industry and its advertisers will certainly push for it to be brought to market rapidly. But time is short. Advertisers and agencies have been telling radio for some time now that they want electronic audience measurement - - and they want it yesterday.
Publisher Perspective: Yesterday, All my troubles seemed so far away, Now it looks as though they're here to stay, Oh, I believe in yesterday... For as long as I can remember yesterday has been the middle name of many ad agency executives wanting everything yesterday and not just ratings research. Going back to the mid-'70's when I worked in research at MediaTrend through today and nothing has changed, yet. Here is a question for our ad agency colleagues, 'Are your agency research departments willing to pay to play at the same rates as broadcasters?' Or do you want the radio broadcaster to pick up the total bill? Folks, get real here - good to explore new research but only big money will make this work. The radio business has just about run out of time on this subject as well as HD as the status of radio is fading into 3rd class status position. Last, there is no doubt that Clear Channel has its own agenda as what is good for Clear Channel is good for Clear Channel.
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Who are the magnificent seven?
We already knew that Arbitron and The Media Audit/Ipsos had made RFP entries with devices already well known. The other finalists are Integrated Media Management, Mediamark Research, Paladin Adsolutions, RadioStat and Simmons. "Each of the final proposals selected share common characteristics - - The potential to provide information that is more accurate and timely than the current diary system, as well as the ability to gather radio listening data in a more 'real life' setting than a recall based methodology can. All finalists share the capability for multi-media measurement," said Jess Hanson, Sr. VP of Research for CC Radio. Mediamark Research declined to comment Friday about its entry. But the company is owned by GfK Media Group, which because it's been aggressive on the acquisition front has two technologies for passive audience measurement - - Eurisko's Media Monitor and GfK/Telecontrol's MediaWatch. Since Mediamark has information about the Eurisko device on its website and nothing about the MediaWatch, we're betting its entry in the Clear Channel derby uses the Eurisko Media Monitor. Paladin Adsolutions Managing Founder Steve Walker tells RBR/TVBR that his company's entry is based on its proprietary technology, which can be seen from the consumer perspective at www.radioad.com. People hear an ad on the radio and can get information about the offer via the Internet. "You hear the ad once, you can take action on the first hearing," Walker said of the technology already in use, which gives stations detailed information on ad response. "That radio station now has hard numbers to take to their sponsors," he said. At present, the whole system is Internet-based, but when we asked how that would be adapted to audience measurement, Walker said he couldn't discuss it because the company still has patents pending. Simmons would say nothing about its proposal, except that the company has its own proprietary technology and "We are honored to be considered." None of the other companies (at least of those we could even locate) responded to RBR/TVBR's request for comment on their proposals.
RBR observation: Who was it in the radio industry that said 'Radio needs to speak with one Voice.' Whoever this person(s) was tell these companies to speak and talk.
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 Howard Stern farewell
rally draws thousands
Thousands of people rallied in NYC Friday to applaud Howard Stern, who broadcast his last show on before heading to Sirius Satellite Radio. Said Stern in front of his fans: "We broke every rule known to radio and mankind and I'm proud of that. And I don't think this ride is over yet. Let the freedom bell be rung, and let it be rung by a stripper! We beat then at their own game, we figured out how to do it...Change the rules, break the chains, the last of a dying breed."
Publisher observation: Ok, why did we print this as it is not news that will alter your personal daily business lives? One reason - We have had a full year of 'Howard' milking the free airwaves, all media giving him tremendous coverage from Fox News Channel, David Letterman, 60 Minutes, Today Show, O'Reilly Factor and all business channels, even the evening network news. I agree with all the comments this year that 'Howard' should have been pulled off the air instead of giving a free ride. But it did not happen, 'Howard' got the best of the total media and that is why he is dubbed 'King of all Media' as his mind works as a programmer and marketer. A lesson all in the media should take from 'Howard' when it comes to moving forward in marketing our medium and all the benefits. Or better yet, hire 'Howard's' company to market free radio as I am sure his agent would be glad to take the money. You may have seen various published trade lists of radios 'Most Influential' people but as far as I am concerned that is just plain suck up lip planting press. Pure reality is radio has never seen a marketer the caliber of Howard Stern and never will again. Name one radio CEO on any of the trade lists that command the presence that 'Howard' received this year and last week? Zero! Instead stations that were affiliates dropped him and also lost the cash the show produced and they cried about. Those stations could have doubled their rates this year and had a one time windfall profit. Almost 40 years in this business the only advice I can deliver - Get over it and move into 2006 by focusing on our radio business and not kick the tin can of 2005 of 'Howard' or satellite radio. Or as I say - suck it up - Next!
DG Systems to merge with FastChannel Network
DG Systems and FastChannel Network have entered into an agreement to merge in a tax-free, stock-for-stock deal with 36 million based upon the last reported sale price of DG Systems common stock. The merger of DG and FastChannel combines the industry's leading digital media service firms with television, radio, and print media distribution capabilities; online business intelligence offerings that include the world's largest searchable database of television advertisements; digital asset management tools for archiving and collaboration; and media intelligence offerings that include broadcast verification as well as competitive monitoring.
| The details |
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Adbiz©
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 JupiterResearch: Online ad growth to be driven by media and entertainment, financial and automotive
JupiterResearch forecasts that online display and search advertising spending will grow at an average annual rate of 10% between 2005 and 2010, driven by the media and entertainment, financial services and automotive industries. The industries slated for the most impressive growth over that time period are automotive (average 24%) and travel (average 13%). The report, "U.S. Category Advertising Forecast, 2005 to 2010," explores what will drive online spending for top categories and how branding-focused categories are planning to spend on online advertising. "Agencies and publishers must educate themselves on how industry categories prioritize online advertising and tailor their pitches to different industries," said Zia Wigder, VP/Research Director at JupiterResearch. "Growing categories differ in the way they allocate funds to online advertising from their total spending." Findings show that telecom, media and entertainment, and finance are the leading categories online today and make up nearly half of all online display and search advertising spending." JupiterResearch found that health and consumer packaged goods companies are not big spenders online, but their focus on branding will drive them to different media to deliver their consumer messaging. CPGs will continue their focus on display advertising, dedicating 83% of their online advertising budgets to display ads in 2010. By contrast, health brands will increase their investment in search far more substantially from 2005 to 2010.
Premiere debuting four new RADAR nets
Premiere Radio Networks announced the addition of four new RADAR-rated networks: Morning Drive FM, Spectrum, Select, and Urban Two. They will debut in RADAR 88, which will be released in late March. At that time, Premiere will reach its all-time high of 18 RADAR-rated networks, 13 of which will be daypart specific. Morning Drive FM will target Persons 18-49 and offer advertisers new exposure on top-rated morning shows featuring personalities such as Bob and Tom, Steve Harvey, and Big D and Bubba. There will be 10 30-second RADAR-rated units available Monday-Friday. Spectrum and Select will be two daypart specific networks that will feature commercial units on approximately 750 Clear Channel radio stations. Spectrum, featuring nearly 325 affiliates, will target Persons 18-49 and will provide a strong concentration of audience in the top 50 DMA market grouping. Select will have approximately 425 affiliates that target Persons 25-54. Both networks will have 56 30-second RADAR-rated units per week, daypartable across Monday-Sunday, 6 a.m. - midnight. The fourth newly added network, Urban Two, will target African-American Persons 18-49 on 74 Clear Channel Urban-formatted radio stations. There will be 35 30-second RADAR-rated units per week, daypartable across Monday-Sunday, 6 a.m. - midnight. Urban Two will be a marketing compliment to Premiere's Urban One, which has been RADAR-rated for the past two years.
 Sears running 3 to 1 ahead
of Wal-Mart in radio spots
In tracking the radio commercials which ran during "Black Friday Week" (the weekdays leading up to and including Thanksgiving) through Tuesday, December 13, the four department stores advertising most on radio, by far, are Sears, Kohl's, JCPenney, and Macy's. Sears ran 21,894 radio spots in 50 top US markets in the past 23 days, followed by Kohl's and Penney's with just over 20,000 spots each, and Macy's with about 13,000. Wal-Mart was the fifth most frequent advertiser on major market radio stations with 6,778 spots, which is about three times fewer radio spots than Sears, Kohl's and Penney's, and half the number of radio spots aired by Macy's during that same period. After Wal-Mart, in order, were Fred Meyer, Mervyns, Target/Super Target stores, and Dillard's. Tenth on the list, A.J. Wright, although using radio heavily in multiple markets ran 3.7 times fewer spots than fifth-ranked Wal-Mart and 12 times fewer spots than top-ranked Sears in those same 23 days. Further down the list, group chain owner May Department Stores, while not placing any of its store chains in the top of this list, does have more individually branded stores advertising on major market radio then any other parent company during the time between November 21 and December 13. Specifically, May-owned properties Hecht's, Filene's, Kaufmann's, Robinson-May, Marshall Field's and Strawbridge's were running radio spots, however, the total spots run by those five chains combined during this period was still less than the number of spots Wal-Mart ran and about 5 times fewer spots than category-leading Sears. Other chains of note: L.L.Bean stores ranked 12th and Kmart 16th on the list of spot advertisers on radio.
Comcast media account in review
Comcast has reportedly launched a review for its planning and buying. Incumbent agencies include One to One Interactive and Star Group. Comcast spent 225 million in advertising through 9/05, according to Nielsen Monitor-Plus numbers.
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| Media Business Report |
 Yahoo! and MMA to offer measurement service
Yahoo! and Marketing Management Analytics (MMA) announced a new service that will help marketers improve ROI by evaluating the offline sales impact of their online marketing programs. This move builds on Yahoo!'s commitment to help marketers deploy a best practice solution for budget allocations across all media. Yahoo! and MMA's marketing ROI assessment model builds on an existing MMA model to include data from Yahoo! showing users' exposure to online graphical and search advertising. This new model provides a focused assessment of online programs on Yahoo!, measured next to programs on other media, and gives insights and recommendations to marketers on both online and offline marketing spend. Marketers can choose to provide MMA with data from other online sites, including direct marketing campaigns and Web site data, to get a broader view of their total marketing programs. "In many ways, online marketing can be more accountable than many offline marketing tactics, but there is still a real need to understand the total sales impact of online and offline programs on a common ROI basis so that optimal budget allocations can be made," said John Nardone, MMA Chief Client Officer. "Clients are shifting more and more of their total spend online, and need to move beyond measurement of clicks and page views to understand what is really working to drive sales."
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| Media Markets & MoneyTM |
EMF spins an FM
Educational Media Foundation has decided to divest itself of one of its FM stations, sending it to another noncom - - as it must, since the station is well down in reserved territory at 88.9 mHz. The buyer is Cedar Cove Broadcasting Inc., and the station is KLCQ-FM, on the eastern side of the Fort Collins-Greeley market in Eaton CO. Cedar Grove is headed by frequent station trader and builder Victor A. Michael Jr., along with Lori Michael and Mitchell A. Beranek. (To our knowledge, Michael has done most of his broadcasting on the commercial side of the divide.) They'll put up 200K cash for the station, which they intend to use as a ministry to promote family and religious values in the area.
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| Washington Beat |
 Taking exception:
ESPN doesn't Polka
Claims at last month's Senate Commerce Committee "Open Forum on Decency," witness Matt Polka, President/CEO of the American Cable Association said or implied they are forced to take channels they don't want, to get channels they need to programming conglomerates, a claimed echoed by David Moskowitz of Echostar. Although no companies were mentioned by name, Rosa Gatti of Disney's ESPN wanted to clarify that the Polka statement is at best misleading and at worst flat out incorrect, at least in the case of her company. She says, "The Disney ESPN Media Networks group does not tie the carriage of ESPN or Disney Channel to the carriage of other networks. If an operator so chooses, ESPN and Disney Channel are available on a stand alone basis through separate pricing. Also, under retransmission consent, cable systems have the choice to carry ABC owned stations for either a cash payment or in exchange for (some other form of consideration including) the carriage of other Disney services."
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| Programming |
92.3 Free FM completes programming lineup
CBS Radio's 92.3 Free FM will move to a predominately talk format to coincide with the launch of David Lee Roth's new morning show beginning 1/3. 92.3 Free FM will broadcast Free Rock Weekends every weekend beginning 1/6 turning a library of 55 years of rock history over to its listeners, DJs and special guests. The complete new 92.3 Free FM weekday talent line-up includes David Lee Roth (6:00 - 10:00 AM); JV & Elvis (10:00 AM - 2:00 PM); Penn Jillette (2:00 - 3:00 PM); Leslie Gold (3:00 - 7:00 PM) and Booker, Monday-Thursday (7:00 - 11:00 PM) and Friday (7:00 - 10:00 PM). Free FM, formerly WXRK-FM, has changed its call letters to WFNY-FM, effective 1/1.
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| RBR Stats |
BIGresearch: December economic and
consumer insights executive briefing
BIGresearch's Consumer Intentions & Actions Survey monitors over 8,000 consumers each month providing unique insights & identifying opportunities in a fragmented and transitory marketplace.
ECONOMY
Whether they're celebrating Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, or just looking forward to partying their way into 2006, consumers are expecting a happy holiday season...confidence is up! Those very confident/confident in chances for a strong economy rises to 43.1% from 39.3% in November, though down 5 points from '04 (48.1%). The increase in confidence parallels a decrease in those concerned with political and national security affairs...about one in five (20.2%) continue to worry, down a point from last month (21.2%) and about three points from '04 (23.4%). With their holiday shopping days numbered, in December fewer consumers contend they've become more practical and realistic in their purchases, now at 45.2%, down a point from November (46.2%). But consumers are still more practical than they were a year ago (43.6%). Following suit, those saying they're focused on needs over wants lowers a point from last month to 55.4%, although an increase of more than 4 points from the same time last year (51.0%). Note to Santa: you may be packing your sleigh with plenty of roadside emergency kits, smoke alarms, and flashlights, but please also save room for a few much-needed iPods, Xbox 360s, and special sparklers.
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| Engineering |
Goldman staying with First Broadcasting as consultant
While we had him out the door completely (12/16/05 RBR #245), Bert Goldman is still going to be Senior Technical Advisor for First Broadcasting and head of its Spectrum Innovation Lab. That will be part of his consulting role for the company. Separately, he will launch Goldman Engineering Management in January.
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| Financial |
They have confidence, really?
Although confidence improved in December, news like GM's planned 30,000 worker layoff has consumers feeling less jolly about the outlook for employment. This month, 42.1% are expecting "more" layoffs in the 6 months (up from 40.1% in November), 45.0% are predicting the "same" (down from 46.8%), while 12.9% say "fewer" (down slightly from 13.1%). Personal concerns with becoming laid off stable at 5.0%. Investor confidence in the stock market relatively flat compared to last month...58.0% say they would definitely/probably invest (v. 58.2% in November). Investor planning to buy stocks up a point to 12.3% (v. 11.2% last month), while those planning to sell also up, now at 6.9% (v. 6.0%). Practical consumers attempt to keep debt in check as those holiday bills begin to mound..."paying down debt" remains the financial priority among consumers and more plan to do so over the next 3 months (39.6%) compared to November (38.0%). More also planning to increase savings, but with perhaps holiday shopping to complete, fewer say they'll decrease overall spending. Pay with cash more often flat. With drivers still watching pump prices take a roller-coaster ride (and footing the bill for the ticket), how may this affect spending? Not surprisingly, with holiday cheer left to be spread among family, friends, coworkers, the mailman, et al, fewer consumers contend that the cost of fueling has impacted their spending (30.0% say "no major impact"), compared to last month (26.2%). Long-term effects are evident...in '04, almost the majority (47.2%) cited "no major impact." Look for consumers to adjust this month by turning to their credit cards and cutting into savings. More on Tuesday.
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| News/Talk |
 How not to go Gentle
into that Good Night
Honest Assessments, Promising Ideas, and
Raging Leadership in radio's critical phase.
(From November 2005 RBR/TVBR Solutions Magazine)
By Franklin Raff
Our job is to make and market a live, creative audio product. David Ogilvy's old mantra - that creative people are the foremost assets of a creative business - is only a profit-unfriendly concept in the very short term. The short term, for us, is over. Our customers - captive listeners, and, in turn, advertisers - wait like babushkas on a bread-line for some semblance of compelling content. The golden eggs are dwindling and it's time to feed the geese. That is to say, in order to improve our manufacturing potentiality, we must reevaluate and optimize the talents and capacities of our people. When you have finished reading this article, you will at worst have a few concrete, if unconventional, views and ideas in your mind about how to do this on the cheap. In the process, I aim to provoke and inspire you to action.
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| Monday Morning Makers & Shakers |
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Transactions: 11/7/05-11/11/05
We don't recall giving anyone the week off. Nevertheless, only two measly little deals made it into the FCC database in the second week of November, and only one of them was in a rated market. Both were way out west, one all the way on the coast of California and the other in old Santa Fe, NM. (We know for a fact that, although price tags are modest, at least the volume figure to pick up next week.)
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Total
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Total Deals
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2
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AMs
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4
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FMs
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1
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TVs
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0
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| Value |
2.55M
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| Complete Charts |
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Radio Transactions of the Week
Moon sets into Bicoastal's only coast
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TV Transactions of the Week
You must be kidding |
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| Transactions |
1.2B KNBR-AM/KFOG-FM, KFFG-FM, KTCT-AM/KSAN-FM San Francisco (San Francisco, Los Altos, San Mateo); KLIF-AM/KTCK-AM, KPLX-FM, KDBN-FM, KTDK-FM, KYNG-AM, KKLF-AM, KGVL-AM/KIKT-FM Dallas-Ft. Worth (Dallas, Ft. Worth, Haltom City, Sanger, Sherman, Denison-Sherman, Greenville); KRBE-FM Houston; WNNX-FM, WWWQ-FM Atlanta (Atlanta, College Park); WRRM-FM, WMOJ-FM, WYGY-FM Cincinnati (Cincinnati, Fairfield, Lebanon); KCMO AM & FM, KCJK-FM, KCFX-FM Kansas City (Kansas City, Garden City, Harrisonville MO); WFMS-FM, WISG-FM, WJJK-FM Indianapolis (Indianapolis, Fishers, Noblesville IN); WAVG-AM, WZZB-AM/WQKC-FM Louisville KY (Jeffersonville, Seymour IN); and WSBA-AM/WARM-FM, WGLD-AM/WSOX-FM York (York, Red Lion PA). 100% of Susquehanna Radio Corp. and other subsidiaries of Susquehanna Pfatzgraff Company to CMP Susquehanna Corp./Cumulus Media Partners LLC, related to Cumulus Media Inc. (Lewis W. Dickey Jr. et al). Stock transaction. Superduopoly in Kansas City with KCHZ-FM Ottawa KS, KMJK-FM Lexinton MO, and KMAJ-FM CP (moving from Topeka KS to Shawnee KS). KMAJ-FM, KCHZ-FM, KCMO AM & FM, KCJK-FM & KCFX-FM going into trust under Scott Knoblauch. Superduopoly in Houston with KIOL-FM, KFNC-FM. [File date 11/21/05.]
1.75M KAZZ-FM Spokane WA (Deer Park WA) from First Broadcasting Investment Partners LLC (Hal A. Rose) to Proactive Communications Inc. (Gerald D. Clifton, Greggory McMillion). 100K escrow, 500K debt assumption, balance in cash at closing. [File date 11/25/05.]
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| Stock Talk |
Another flat to down day
Wall Street traders just can't get enthused enough to put together a year-end rally. Even with oil prices lower, they still bid stock prices slightly lower on Friday. The Dow Industrials lost six points to 10,876.
Radio stocks also fell. The Radio Index declined 1.286, or 0.7%, to 185.095. Don't know why, but it was a bad day for "S" stocks: Salem fell 2.4%, Saga 2.4%, Sirius 3.1% and SBS 1.3%.
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| Radio Stocks |
Here's how stocks fared on Friday
| Company |
Symbol |
Close |
Change |
Company |
Symbol |
Close |
Change |
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Arbitron
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ARB
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38.50
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-0.64
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Jeff-Pilot
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JP
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55.82
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-0.27
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Beasley
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BBGI
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14.08
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+0.01
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Journal Comm.
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JRN
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14.10
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+0.10
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| Citadel |
CDL |
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13.06 |
-0.17 |
Radio One, Cl. A
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ROIA
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10.90
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+0.11
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Clear Channel
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CCU
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32.88
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+0.08
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Radio One, Cl. D
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ROIAK
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10.91
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+0.09
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Cox Radio
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CXR
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14.75
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-0.10
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Regent
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RGCI
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4.54
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-0.09
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Cumulus
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CMLS
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12.81
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+0.19
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Saga Commun.
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SGA
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11.18
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-0.27
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Disney
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DIS
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24.70
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-0.04
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Salem Comm.
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SALM
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18.54
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-0.46
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Emmis
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EMMS
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19.88
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-0.15
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Sirius Sat. Radio
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SIRI
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6.95
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-0.22
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| Entercom |
ETM
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29.48
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-0.34
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Spanish Bcg.
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SBSA
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5.22
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-0.07
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Entravision
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EVC
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7.30
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+0.02
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Univision
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UVN
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30.25
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-0.07
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Fisher
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FSCI
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45.12
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-0.08
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Viacom, Cl. A
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VIA
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34.11
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+0.12
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Gaylord
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GET
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44.00
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-0.37
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Viacom, Cl. B
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VIAb
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34.03
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+0.08
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Hearst-Argyle
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HTV
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23.74
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-0.01
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Westwood One
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WON
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16.43
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+0.01
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Interep
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IREP
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0.42
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+0.04
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XM Sat. Radio
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XMSR
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29.64
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-1.31
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Bounceback
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 We want to
hear from you.
This is your column, so send your comments and
a photo to radionews@rbr.com
On HD Radio issues....
Sorry I haven't paid my dues thus far. I had a commercial free Christmas thus far, making January more likely to be a better month with love offerings and gifts. With little fanfare the HD community has saved broadcasting by offering its own version of sat radio collectively and with no monthly fee. This also leads to the next cost effective move to save the HD players in about 2 years. Should HD prove to be a total failure because the technology wipes out adjacent stations and the atmospheric inversions to FM and skywave to AM eliminate the interest both legally and technically, these blindsiders can then purchase either XM or Sirius or both and will have the horsepower to move this commercial free trend right up where it belongs...
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Jerry
jerry@jerrysmith.net
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Below the Fold
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Ad Biz
Sears running 3 to 1
Ahead of Wal-Mart in radio spots...
News Talk
How Not To Go Gentle
Our job is to make and market a live, creative audio product...
Media Markets & Money
EMF spins an FM
Decided to divest itself of one of its FMs...
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Stations for Sale
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NEast CapCity FM
Suburban FM, strong revenue history-less than 8.5x BCF - 2M.
salesgroup@beld.net or
781-848-4201
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More News Headlines
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Double digit downer for Journal Broadcast
November broadcast revenues were down 16.3% to 13.97 million at Journal Broadcast Group, with this year's lack of political revenue blamed for virtually the entire shortfall for both TV and radio. Radio revenues dropped 6% to 6.93 million and TV revenues plunged 24.4% to 7.03 million. Publishing revenues were also lower, but didn't fall as much. Publishing revenues were down 3.7% to 25.52. Ad revenues for the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel dropped 2.5% to 14.49 million while ad revenues for the company community newspapers and shoppers declined 2.9% to 5.15 million.
Live Nation
gets index berth
On the day that Live Nation - - formerly Clear Channel Entertainment - - is spun out from Clear Channel Communications this Wednesday (12/21) it will jump into a Standard & Poor's Index, which is always good news to build trading demand. S&P announced that Live Nation, which will trade on the NYSE as "LYV" - - will replace Fedders Corp. on the S&P SmallCap 600 index. Fedders is being dropped for its low stock price and market capitalization.
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TVBR - TV News
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Manufacturers form
HD A-V alliance
Charter Communications, JVC, Mitsubishi Digital Electronics, NBC Universal, Samsung and Sun Microsystems announced the formation of HANA, the High-Definition Audio-Video Network Alliance. HANA members are working together to create a design guideline for secure high definition audio visual networks that will speed the creation of new, higher quality, easier to use HD products. In addition to the founding members, ARM, Freescale Semiconductor and Pulse~LINK have joined HANA as contributing members. HANA expects more members to join by International CES 2006.
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December RBR/TVBR Digital Magazine
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In this issue, we ask for 2006 Wish Lists--everyone from programmers to researchers to radio and media agency CEOs give their take. In AdBiz, we spoke to Sarah Fay, ISOBAR US President about the future of digital marketing. In Streaming, we compared and contrasted two differing measurement methodologies with two of the top rep firms in the space. We also look at the latest in Traffic systems; interviewed Fox News's John Gibson; and learned about WOR-AM NYC's revitalization project. Last but not least, RBR/TVBR looked at the Susquehanna sale to Cumulus and heard from ABC Radio Networks' Dr. Tom Evans about 2006 predictions for radio research.
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December Issue of RBR/TVBR
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RBR Radar 2005
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Radio News you won't read any where else. RBR--First, Accurate, and Independently Owned.
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The Media Audit/Ipsos
challenge PPM
Media Audit has teamed with the UK's Ipsos to propose their own passive measurement challenger to the Portable People Meter. Ipsos is one of four companies which has a passive meter system in operation, although still in the testing phase at this point. Rather than having a proprietary hardware device for panelists to carry, Ipsos loads its software onto Smart Cell Phones to monitor exposure to audio media. And there is more - RBR observation: How many times at how many PPM presentations by Arbitron have we heard someone ask, "Why don't you just put PPM in a cell phone?" It seems like a good idea, but Arbitron officials have always expressed concerns that there are many places where cell phones are not allowed, but they hope PPMs will be. As for Smart Cell Phones, there aren't very many out in use yet by US consumers, so The Media Audit would have to pass out the expensive devices to make its system work. In time it may happen as it will take lots of time and lots of money to get an entire cell industry to get on board. Now it will be interesting to see what the honchos at Clear Channel say on their entries and where they will put their money. But one thing is for sure and you can bet money on this statement - 'Time waits for no one.' 12/16/05 RBR #245
Bidding begins for VNU
Nielsen parent VNU confirms that it's gotten multiple buyout inquiries, which its board is considering. It's not saying anything about the bidders, or whether they're being allowed to look at the company's non-public financial details. Indeed, analysts failed to get any hint of any more detail out of VNU CEO Rob van den Bergh. A report in the Financial Times said the VNU board was seeking at least 32 euros per share for the company. TVBR observation: Despite the collapse of the IMS merger, which was vehemently opposed by VNU's largest shareholders, we were surprised to hear van den Bergh mention that VNU is still going ahead to develop "strategic opportunities" with IMS. Does that add fuel to our previous report that IMS may be a bidder for VNU?
12/14/05 TVBR #244
Mel is gone, so is Infinity
Karmazin's imprint is fast fading away at Viacom as it prepares to split into New Viacom and CBS Corporation the end of this month. The company name most associated with Karmazin, Infinity, is history. The radio group at the new CBS Corp. is being re-branded as CBS Radio and it's also emphasizing a new slogan: "Broadcast ... HD ... Streaming ... On-Demand." RBR observation: It was Karmazin who built Infinity from an owner of three stations to a major radio group which he took public on Wall Street, took private, then took public again before leveraging it through a series of mergers into Westinghouse, CBS and finally Viacom. But while the name may have been near and dear to him, it didn't mean much to the general public as a brand. CBS does, so it makes sense for Moonves to emphasize the CBS brand across the TV network, local TV stations, local radio stations, the outdoor division and related operations - - CBS Digital Media Group and CBS Consumer Products. Maybe Mel would like to buy the name back and launch the Infinity Channel on Sirius.
12/14/05 RBR #244
Clear Channel's spin-out
of CC Entertainment
Renamed to "Live Nation" "LYV" (the ticker symbol) NYSE. Bear Stearns analyst Victor Miller is expecting LYV to trade around 10 bucks - - he gives a range of 8-12. He says the knee-jerk reaction is likely to be to drive Clear Channel's stock price down a buck or so, but he calculates that the real impact should be much less. RBR observation: Miller has been critical of CCU management in the past - - in fact, he urged an outright sale of CC Entertainment as a better course - - so he's not one to look at the company through rose-colored glasses. As we indicated, his 11-step analysis is too complicated to review in-depth here, so you'll have to contact him if you want to see for yourself.
12/14/05 RBR #243
Cox study says expanded band
better than HD designation
Found that members of the public would rather see HD Radio multicasts numbered like existing FM stations (108.1 and beyond), rather than HD-2, HD-3, and etc. Offered only those two choices, the national study found that people overwhelmingly preferred the "expanded band" over the "layered approach."
RBR observation: Were they asking the right questions? It looks to us like people were offered two bad choices and they chose the one they found least objectionable. Can't we find something more consumer friendly than perpetuating the existing one-oh-whatever-point-thingamajig system? We think the radio industry needs to hire branding experts to try to come up with a more consumer-friendly way of numbering HD Radio channels.
12/13/05 TVBR #242
Entercom cuts Q4 guidance
Stock price fell 1% on Friday, 12/09/05, after the company said its Q4 revenues would come in about four million bucks below its previous guidance. Entercom's announcement cited "the deterioration of national sales conditions," so we asked the head of its national rep, Interep President George Pine, about current conditions. "The 4th quarter pacing obviously looks down slightly at this point," RBR observation: Are other shoes about to fall? Pine doesn't think many other radio companies will have to cut their Q4 guidance because of national sales shortfalls, since no other company is so dependent on one soft market, as Entercom is in Boston.
12/12/05 RBR #241
Agencies chime in on
HD Digital Radio Alliance
RBR asked a few agency folks about the recently announced HD Digital Radio Alliance, a coordinated industry effort to compete with the format variety of satellite radio. Rich Russo, JL Media's SVP/Director of Broadcast Services -".. I'm not comfortable with the word HD, because.." RBR observation: Indeed, it may take a while to get HD-2 in the hearts, minds and then hands, of listeners. Another issue, they've marketed a whole generation of HD receivers that didn't have the HD-2 capability. It's going to take a whole new cycle of manufacturing, retailing and purchases. It's almost like starting all over again. Thankfully, some HD receivers can be updated to HD-2 by a software download.
12/09/05 RBR #240
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